Automatic Transmission Torque Converter problems of the 2004 Volkswagen New Beetle

The most recent incident occurred while I was in traffic driving up the dallas north tollway in stop and go traffic. . . When I depressed the pedal the transmission slipped and would not accelerate so I finally had an opportunity to pull over and let the car cool down. After about 20 minutes on the side of the road I was again able to drive the car. I contacted the dealer who repaired the transmission and told them I am having the same problem. . . Sad thing is I have had the car at the dealership on 3 other times since late may for them to 1) replace the transmission, 2) replace the computer transmission chip, 3) replace the torque converter in the transmission. . . All in all I have been out about $7k including rentals and everything. My biggest concern is that in the other cases I have had problems it was when I was getting off the highway after driving a bit then the transmission would slip. This time however could have been a major accident since it occurred while I was in major traffic. In total the vw dealer has had my car a total of about 10 weeks since late may. . . This is terrible. I am not the only consumer with vw beetle issues with the transmission several out there are having problems. Can something be done about this instead of the consumer suffering?? or do we have to wait until there are worst cases similar to Toyota or Ford?.